STUDENTS WIN BIG IN WRITING COMPETITION

The Durban University of Technology’s Writing Centre recently held their 3rd annual Writing Competition. The awards ceremony took place at DUT’s Ritson Campus on Thursday the 10th of September 2015 where the winners were awarded their prizes.

The 1st prize winners were presented with laptops, the 2nd prize winners walked away with iPads and the 3rd prize winners took home eBook readers.

The main objective of this competition was to honour and celebrate the life of Nadine Gordimer, who was a South African writer, political activist and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature.

In her welcome speech, Professor Nomthandazo Gwele, the DVC Academic, stated that “The competition, which has become an annual event is vitally important as it resonates with our broader Curriculum Renewal Project, which emphasises General Education. It promotes reading and writing outside disciplines; it encourages reading and writing for amusement.”

The event was graced by an internationally renowned poet, playwright, director and author Dr Gcina Mhlophe. Dr Mhlophe facilitated a workshop with the finalists and was the guest speaker for the event. Her presence motivated aspiring young DUT writers and she encouraged them to write in their mother tongues. She encouraged budding writers to use simple language and write to be understood. This was reiterated by Dr Gift Mheta, DUT’s Writing Centre Coordinator, who said, “We write to communicate. As such, it is important to avoid big words and complex sentences. We should always remember that simplicity is not synonymous with simple mindedness and neither is complexity synonymous with great mindedness. We can express great ideas using simple language.”

The 1st prize winner in the Short Stories category, Siphesihle Mthethwa, a Bachelor of Education student expressed his delight at winning, “I feel great and I am happy. I thank God, all praise goes to him. The support from my soulmate Nomthandazo Ncongo was amazing, I am grateful to her too,’’ Mthethwa said. Mthethwa also said that he will cherish this moment for the rest of his life and he is hugely inspired by reading Gcina Mhlophe’s poems.